The Energy Secretary has pledged that the UK government will take decisive action to help raise billions of pounds in funding for clean energy in Scotland ahead of a visit to Aberdeen.
The Energy Secretary will visit Aberdeen with Great British Energy Chair Juergen Maier for the first time since the city was announced as the headquarters for the UK’s new publicly-owned clean energy company.
Following the visit, the UK Government is set to sign a new agreement with the Scottish Government today to boost Great British Energy’s ambitions to support clean energy supply chains and infrastructure.
By developing partnerships with Scottish public bodies in the clean energy sector—including Crown Estate Scotland, the Enterprise Agencies, and the Scottish National Investment Bank—Great British Energy can deliver quickly and effectively, avoid duplication, and maximise the impact and value for money of Scottish projects.
Opportunities for clean energy in Scotland
Scotland has a strong pipeline of opportunities and is at the forefront of floating offshore wind development.
Great British Energy is in a prime position to accelerate this work by harnessing its expertise in project development, investment, and collaboration with local communities.
Great British Energy has £8.3 billion of funding over this Parliament, and work is underway with the energy industry in Scotland to use this for public investment, creating new private sector jobs and driving clean energy in Scotland.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: “Scottish energy workers will power the United Kingdom’s clean energy future—including carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, wind, and oil and gas—for decades to come as part of a fair transition in the North Sea.
“We’re also working closely with the Scottish Government with a new agreement to ensure our publicly owned company is primed to accelerate clean energy in Scotland.”
This follows the announcement in the summer of a partnership between Great British Energy and The Crown Estate, covering England, Wales and Northern Ireland, which could support the leveraging of up to £30-60bn of private investment.
Accelerating careers in the renewables sector
Ahead of the visit, the government confirmed that oil and gas workers will be supported to move more easily into careers in the renewable sector, including offshore wind, as the UK government accelerates delivery of a ‘skills passport’.
The passport is an industry-led initiative overseen by RenewableUK and Offshore Energies UK and supported by the UK and Scottish Governments.
It will align standards, recognise transferable skills and qualifications, and map out career pathways for suitable roles.
The UK Government’s Office for Clean Energy Jobs is working closely with Skills England to support other British workers in the energy transition, which could create hundreds of thousands of new jobs across the UK by 2030.
Many of the skills required for the transition already exist, with research from Offshore Energies UK showing that 90% of oil and gas workers have transferable skills for offshore renewable jobs.
“Scotland already has a strong pipeline of clean energy and supply chain opportunities, is at the forefront of floating offshore wind development, and has a depth of knowledge and experience on community & local energy,” explained Acting Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy Gillian Martin.
“We look forward to working with Great British Energy to ensure it delivers real benefits for the people of Scotland and a just energy transition.”
How is clean energy being advanced in the rest of the UK?
In Wales, the UK Government is already discussing how Great British Energy could partner with their publicly owned renewable energy developer, Trydan Gwyrdd Cymru, and other public bodies to deliver on shared priorities with the Welsh Government.
The UK Government is also working closely with the Northern Ireland Executive on opportunities for Northern Ireland to help accelerate the clean energy transition across the United Kingdom.
